


Lunar Eclipses in Hell

by orphan_account



Category: Maximum Ride - James Patterson, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-01-20
Updated: 2013-01-20
Packaged: 2017-11-26 06:10:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,524
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/647429
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A fourteen year old experiment named Luna escapes the School and finds Nico in the Labyrinth. The 2 become fast friends and learn that while Lu is a Gen 54, Nico is a Gen 24.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

I shivered. The thin hospital scrubs the scientists clothed me in did nothing to stop the cold. The cage I was imprisoned in was solid metal and so it didn't retain heat very well. It was large enough to hold me if I sat up and was just barely big enough to do a 360 degree turn, if I wanted.

The large metal door to this lab opened up and I jerked in terror. I fled to the corner of my cage, as did many of the experiments around me. I pushed myself to the bars, trying to get as far away from them as possible. I hoped with every fiber of my body that I wasn't the experiment they were working on today.

Hope can go to hell.

They stopped in front of my cage, keys jingling. The door was opened and my arm was grabbed roughly. They dragged me out of my cage and I slithered to the ground tears in my eyes. They kicked me, snapping "Get up!" in their heavenly voices. When I looked up, the Eraser towering over me grinned wolfishly and an evil glint appeared in his eyes. I stood, trembling. A leather belt was placed around my torso to prevent my wings from flaring and I was led to another lab. I was forced to sit on a table and summon all of my pyrokinesis that I could. I held my hands out in front of me. They shook as I uncurled my fists and balls of fire appeared. I tried to make them bigger and they were extinguished. I tried again and they grew a bit.

I sat there for and hour and a half, the small ball of fire growing bit by bit. When it became evident that it would be a while before my power could be used as a weapon, they sent me back to my cage. I was thrown in there and I collapsed into a heap, sobbing quietly. My foot slid and hit the door. It silently swung forward and my chest caught mid-sob.

After  _fourteen years_  in a high-priority, maximum-security, high-risk lab,  _they'd left the door unlocked_. This had to be some kind of sick joke on their part. It was a test, it had to be. No one just leaves the door open on a cage that could easily blow this place of the face of the planet. Cautiously, I hit the door again and it swung all the way open. I sat there, astounded, until another experiment growled "Well  _go_! Get out! Run!"

In the blink of an eye, I was out of my cage and to the metal door. I saw the keys on the hook and I grabbed, handing them to another experiment in a cage. His eyes began to water with tears as I kicked the door. Alarms almost immediately began to sound, wailing and screaming as I ran. I'd been through these halls almost every day of my life and I'd memorized the way to freedom. I ended up having to take detours since the halls were quickly filling with scientists and Erasers. I ran until I saw the red exit sign and I was literally 3 feet away when I felt a razor sharp pain on my scalp and I was hoisted above the ground. I twisted and elbowed him, struggling for freedom, when he suddenly dropped me and was knocked over. I turned to see another experiment, maybe a year older than me, the one gifted with super strength, hitting him.

"Run!" he screamed. "Send help!" I bit my lip. He was risking his life so that I could escape and find freedom. I wasn't going to deny him that too. I summoned every bit of will and strength from my body and the Eraser was suddenly lit on fire. I grabbed the boy and hauled him towards the door. He beat me to it and with a single hit, it burst open. We both ran into the cold desert air, hearing the screams and gunshots behind us. I heard hounds be released and my legs pumped even faster. I lost my sense of everything and the world began to blur as tears fell like diamonds from my eyes. I could no longer see the boy who'd rescued me and I could no longer hear the hounds behind me, the Erasers yelling for me to be brought back. I don't know how far I ran, I don't know for how long I ran, but all I knew was that I was putting tons of distance between us. When I stopped, I could see the raising sun, a sight I'd never blessed with before. I watched the glory of the rising sun before I sat against a rock to catch my breath. I could feel my stomach growling, a familiar feeling for me.

I looked around. I was all alone. The boy who'd been running with me had either been caught and taken back, most likely to be killed, or had abandoned me and run in a different direction. All I knew was that he wasn't with me anymore. I wiped tears out of my eyes and rested my hand on the stone I sat on. A little blue symbol lit up on it, kinda like the one on my arm, and I toppled backward into darkness.

 


	2. Chapter 2

_ **Nico's POV** _

"Not now Minos!" I growled. I stormed away form him. His egging me on to kill someone was going a little too far. Now he was trying to get me to kill the first person I came across, sure that they must have defied death at least once. I downright refused to kill someone, but he was getting nasty. I shoved away from him. I wasn't pretending that revenge wouldn't be nice, because I seriously wanted Bianca back, but it wasn't worth it. I watched as a wall disappeared in front of me and I walked around the corner it created. There in the middle of the corridor was a person.

"Perfect!" crowed Minos. "Now Master Nico! You can surely sense that this one has defied death before! Kill her!"

"If she's defied death before, it's because the Fates didn't want her life to end just yet. I won't do it now." I snapped, whirling on him, sword drawn and teeth bared. He shrank back and my anger was diminished with one sound:

"Owww!" the girl moaned. She slowly picked herself up and I saw that she was actually quite beautiful. She had weightless blonde hair and Carolina blue eyes. She had tan skin and wore bland hospital scrubs. She picked herself up and wiped the blood off of her face. She saw me and took a step back. I sheathed my sword, walking towards her.

"Are you alright?" I asked. "That must have been quite a fall." She shrugged, not meeting my eyes. I saw that she had a belt around her chest and asked if she wanted me to cut it off. She shook her head, still not speaking. She lifted on finger, glowing red-hot. She touched it to the belt and seared it off with her bare fingers. I stared at her in amazement.

"Bye." She mumbled. She stepped around me and went to walk into the darkness, but I caught her arm. She jerked in fright, and then went limp and stared at me in what could only be described as  _pure terror_.

"Are you okay?" I asked again. "I'm not going to hurt you. I promise. Where did you come from?"

"I'm fine." She whispered. "And I came from hell. A place you never want to be. Let me go, please." She went to pull her arm away, but then gasped and clutched her shoulder. It must have been hurt in the fall. I forced her to sit and examined her shoulder. I'd learned quite a bit about medical injuries since I had to take care of my own now and it looked like her shoulder was dislocated.

"Alright, it looks like your shoulder is dislocated. Hold on and I'll"- I began to explain, but she irritably flicked her hair over her shoulder and grabbed her arm. With a cold, determined jerk, she popped it back into place with a sickening thud. I met her eyes and she gave me a weak half-smile. Then I was a feather on the ground. I picked it up, confused. There were no birds down here. There shouldn't be any feathers. She saw it and alarm filled her eyes. She took it from me.

"That's mine. Sorry." She whispered. She took it and stood, then tucked it into her pocket. I watched her, and then followed her as she went to walk away.

"What are you?" I asked quietly. She froze, but turned and faced me.

"A mistake. Leave me alone." She snapped. I'd have though it was impossible for a small and frightened girl like her to use that icy of a tone, but she did. "Don't try to follow me. I don't want to hurt you and you seem nice."

I watched as she walked away into the inky black darkness.

_ **Luna's POV** _

The boy truly was nice. He was. I was hurt and he was offering to help, that was unheard of in the School. If you were hurt, you dealt with it on your own. But never the less, I wasn't normal and as soon as he found that out, I was a freak again. He'd already been confused when he found my feather. I didn't need anybody asking questions. I'd already made up my mind that I was better off alone.

I kept walking and he didn't follow me. Some part of me wished he would defy my wish and try to follow me again, but I knew he wouldn't. I walked and as soon as I thought I was far enough away, I lit my hand on fire for light. Gazing around, I realized I was in a maze of some sort, but it was somehow under ground. The rocky ceiling gave proof to that. I gazed around a bit more until I shook myself and started forward again. Then, in front of me, a woman appeared. She was human from the waist up, but both of her legs were snakes tails. I froze. I'd seen tons of pathetic recombinants, but this was just…I don't know what it was, but it was something.

She smiled evilly and took out what appeared to be a really sharp, oversized needle. Just thinking about needles made my blood boil. I took a step back as she came closer. She tried to hit me with it and my pyrokinesis reacted instinctively. It roared and she was suddenly a tall column of flame. I suddenly realized why my powers were so weak back at the School. Yeah, I'd been scared, so fright wasn't the answer. Adrenaline was. When she raised that pointy looking needle thing, I'd had an internal panic-attack and my power's had reacted instinctively. I could control it now and make it as strong as I wanted.

I watched her writhe in pain on the ground for a moment before stepping over her and continuing on. I walked, hoping to find and exit or at least find something edible. No such luck. I swayed, tired and exhausted. I leaned against a wall and lay there, falling asleep with my stomach trying to eat itself.


	3. Chapter 3

When I woke up, it was still dark. I stretched, and then lightly shook my feathers out. I stood and looked around. The maze was still changing, still dark, and still lonely. I was beginning to regret my decision to leave that boy in the middle of the hallway, but I shook off my feelings and rubbed my arms, walking off. I walked more and more, making random turns and stopping sometimes to sit and relax. I was hungry and had no food. After 12 years in a medical facility, I knew that my body burned calories faster than any human did and if I didn't find food soon, my body would begin to eat itself to receive the nutrients I couldn't give it and eventually I would starve to death. I picked myself up and began to walk again. After a while I began to hear voices and I retreated, walking backwards. They rounded the corner and I froze.

There were three boys and one girl. The girl had blonde hair just like me and it had a beautiful curl to it. The only thing marring her perfect blonde hair was a single gray streak running through it. She had gray eyes and tan skin. She wore an orange shirt which was stained and cut up and jeans. She had a bag thrown over her shoulder and a flashlight in her hand. The first boy was extremely tall and had crooked teeth. He appeared to have only one eye, which was calf brown. He seemed childlike in his behavior how he cowered behind his friends. He appeared to be wearing a blacksmith's apron. The second boy had shaggy jet black hair that had a single gray streak running like the girl's. He had bight green eyes. He wore a blue shirt with a trident on it and light jeans. The last boy had curly hair that was covered a green baseball cap that had the word  _Rasta_ (?) on it. He wore an orange shirt just like the girl did and cargo pants and converse shoes. The three boys also had bags slung over their shoulders.

I quickly extinguished the flames that licked off of my palm and took several more steps backward. The flashlight beam found me and I stood off to the side, allowing them to pass. I kept my eyes on the floor and waited patiently for them to go around me. They all stopped walking and froze just as I had. When it became evident that they weren't going to go around me, I began to walk around them. One of them tried to stop me but the others stopped him and I was thankful. I rounded the corner and wandered in the darkness before I was sure that they were gone. Then I reignited my palm and kept walking. I turned a corner and almost immediately ran into someone. I looked up and using the light from my palm, I saw who it was.

_ **Nico's POV** _

I couldn't believe it. It was her. She was back. She sat there after running into me, a dazed look on her face, holding a light. Then I looked at it closer and realized it wasn't a candle or something like I'd thought. She was holding a bare flame in her hand. She saw it was me and annoyment filled her face.

"I thought I told you to leave me alone." She snapped, the flame in her hand growing larger and larger.

"I did. You don't know what this place is? It screws with your mind and rearranges itself to confuse you and drive you insane. It's the Labyrinth." I said, confused.

Her brow furrowed. "No, I didn't know. Thanks for telling me. You know we're not the only ones in here?"

"We aren't?"

"No. I saw three boys and a girl back there." she motioned. "If you're telling the truth and this place really does move around, then they're probably gone."

"The girl…did she have blonde hair and gray eyes?" I demanded. She nodded. "One of the boys only had one eye and the other had black hair with a gray streak? Green eyes? A boy with curly hair and a hoppity gait?" Once again she nodded. I just about lost it when she confirmed that Annabeth, Percy, Grover, and Tyson were here. I settled for punching the wall. She flinched and backed up, fear entering her eyes again. I immediately hated myself. She should have no reason to be scared of me and I didn't want to give her a reason to be.

"Sorry?" she muttered nervously. When I turned to her again, she flinched once more, as if she were scared I was going to hit her.

"Don't be. I just didn't expect them to come down here. The boy with the green eyes…he's my cousin. He also killed my sister on accident." I replied, leaning up against the wall heavily on my arms.

"In my experience, killing on accident is still killing." She replied.

"I'm glad you can see it like that. Everyone else except you and Minos think I'm wrong to be upset with him. Sometimes I can't even count on Midas." I said, muffled.

"I've seen too much death in my life time to think you're wrong." She told me quietly. "I told you that I came from hell. In reality, it's called the School and it's a place where children are experimented on and killed daily. I was one of the lucky ones who escaped and found my way here." I looked incredulously and she just stared at the ground. She tried to look at me once or twice, but her willpower seemed to come and go and this was one of those  _go_  times.

"You…Were experimented on?" I whispered. Normally I might have shrieked  _nuh-huh you little liar_ , but A) I was a demigod and B) she was holding fire with her bare hands. Weirder things could happen. You started to expect the unexpected when you lived my life.

She nodded, head bowed, seeming to await my judgment. I opened my mouth once, then closed it, unable to come up with anything. Eventually I settled for "What's your name?"

She shrugged. "We were identified by numbers in the lab."

"How can I even be sure you're telling the truth?" I challenged. She looked me in the face for the first time since spilling her secret and shook her shoulders. The movement would have seemed weird if I didn't see why she did it.

From behind her back unfolded a pair of beautiful wings. They were silvery-white and and tipped with blue. They had slight hints of gold running through them. They must have been monstrously large, for she couldn't unfurl them all the way. They were only slightly uncurled from her sides as she sat there. Her blue eyes searched my olive ones, searching for and sight of condemnation.

I smiled at her. "They're beautiful."


	4. Chapter 4

_ **Luna's POV** _

He thought they were beautiful? I choked on a sob and reclined against a wall. I shouldn'tve been afraid that he would reject me. He was sweet and accepting. Sure, he was harboring pain and a serious grudge, but he had his (and hopefully my) best interests at heart.

"What's your name?" I asked quietly.

"Nico." He replied. "Wanna pick out yours? I have a few ideas."

"I don't know…What do you have in mind?" I mused.

He shrugged. "Uh…Daisy, Angel, Sierra, Megan, Alexis, Michelle, Eliza, Marissa, Ellie, Valarie, uh…I'm running out of names."

"I like Luna." I replied suddenly.

"That's a good name." he said.

"But I like Ellie too." I continued, thinking aloud.

"One can be your middle name." he suggested.

"What's yours?" I asked.

"Which one?" he muttered.

"Huh?" I asked.

"I have 5 of them."

"Why?" I asked, mystified. Why would a person need  _five_ middle names?

He shrugged. "My mom wanted me to, I guess."

"So what are they?"

He sighed. "My full name is Nico Ciro Ercole Luka Isai Maximiliano di Angelo."

"Holy Middle Names Batman." I whistled, surprised. "That's a mouthful."

He smiled. "Yeah, it is. That's why I don't usually tell people. So are you going to decide or what?"

"Luna Ellie..."I decided, trailing off. I didn't know my parents, so I didn't know my last name. I guess I only had those two names until I found my parents.

"di Angleo." He offered. I looked at him in confusion. "You can take my last name."

I felt my eyes tear up. "Why? You barely know me at all. You literally picked me up in the middle of nowhere. I threatened you and I'm having mood swings like there's no tomorrow. What brought this on?"

He wiped my tears away. "Because I trust you. I know what its like to be a different and alone. You just need someone to lean on, Luna Ellie di Angelo."

I choked on another sob and her wrapped an arm around me. I leaned on him and then my stomach growled. He smile and picked me up. "Hungry?"

I smiled back, embarrassed. "You heard that, huh?"

"Not so much heard as felt. I'm guessing you burn through calories much faster than a normal person?" he said.

I looked at him. "How did you know that?"

"Like I said; I guessed. Let's go get you some food and better clothes. "He replied, grabbing my hand.

"How are we going to get out? I've been wandering around for 32 hours and I can't find an exit." I asked.

"Leave that to me." He replied. "MINOS!"

A smoky figure appeared out of the darkness and a almost transparent man stood in front of us. He wore a toga and a crown and sandals and a cruel sneer. He gazed at me as if I were an animal, reminding me of the scientists and Erasers I'd just recently escaped from and I cringed back.

"Yes Master Nico?" he asked. Though he feigned respect, I could see the manipulative glint in his eyes. He thought he was the one in charge here.

"We need an exit near a restaurant and a clothing store." He replied. Minos bowed to Nico, and then beckoned him. When Nico offered me his hand and I took it, following them, he stopped, his eyes flashing.

"What," he asked quietly, "do you think  _you're_  doing?"

"She's coming with us. Now get a move on or I'll summon someone who can." Nico replied. Minos cast him a furious glance before concealing it and bowing low again. Minos led us to a wall after leading us through a maze of corridors.

"Here, Master Nico. Can you see the symbol?" Minos said.

"Not really. Luna, could you…" he trailed off. I could see perfectly in the dark, so I reached forward and touched it. The symbol lit up blue just like before and I saw, shockingly, that it was still the same symbol tattooed on my arm. The small triangle was maybe3cm X 5cm, whereas the one on my arm was 3in X 5in.

A sudden light appeared above us, illuminating the ladder on the wall. I could see the blue sky and wispy clouds floating through the air. Nico and I flinched, the light startling us after so long in the dark.

"I meant give us a bit of fire so I could see the symbol, but that works too." He replied. "Ladies first." I quickly climbed up the rungs and into the daylight, Nico coming up behind me.

For the first time, I felt the warmth of the sun on my face.


	5. Chapter 5

_ **Still Luna's POV** _

Nico was so kind. He fed me and the bought me better clothes than the paper thin scrubs I wore. I don't know where he got the money, and quite honestly, I don't care. He showed me around (we'd ended up in Florida) and I got to experience  _life_.

"Luna, Minos is expecting me to return. I can't stay here." He told me one day. We'd been up here for maybe a day, a day and a half. I loved the ocean breeze and the rolling waves. The sound of the crashing tides thrilled me. The wide, open stretch of beach we'd found enabled me to practice flying and the area was beautiful from way up high. I'd often caught Nico relaxing on the beach, watching me soar over the rippling water.

"I know." I replied, sighing. I'd known it couldn't last, but I wished it could. "I'm just not ready to leave yet. After twelve years of captivity, I want to live like this as much as possible. I think that's why I like the sea. Because it's wild and totally unpredictable and it can't be tamed."

"Luna," he said slowly, "What if I told you that all of the Greek gods were still alive?"

I wrapped my arms around his and laid on him. "Then I would believe you. I trust you Nico."

"What if I told you that they still had children with mortals and the children were called demigods?" he asked again.

"Again, I would believe you." I replied calmly.

"What if I told you that I'm a Son of Hades and can summon the dead?" he asked his voice barely above a whisper. I looked him in the face, sat up straight, held my fist out, palm to the ground. Then I turned my hand palm up, unclenching my fist, and summoning a tiny flame all in one fluid movement.

"I'd say that weirder things have happened. I love to swim, yet when I do the water boils around me. I have  _wings_ , Nico. I don't care if you have webbed feet and three eyes. I'd be in no place to judge." I said with a smile. "Besides, I've seen you command and/or summon Minos, correct?"

He nodded. "He was a king of Crete back in Ancient Greece."

"Enough of this sappy talk. Get your ghost-summoning butt up and swim with me one last time." I said, dragging him to his feet.

"Go ahead. I'll meet you there." He told me. I flashed him a quick smile, then ran into the surf.

_ **Nico's POV** _

I watched Luna dive into the waves while discarding my sword and jacket, tugging off my socks and shoes. I watched her paddle out into the deeper water, her blonde hair glinting in the light. Without warning, I found myself praying to Poseidon.

 _Dear Poseidon,_  I thought,  _I know I might not be on the best of terms with your son, but still. I hope you can make the sea like this sometimes, just for her. It makes her so happy. I always want her to be happy after her life. She truly deserves it._

I shook myself and dived into the water. I caught up to her and we splashed around for a bit. Just when we were about to climb out of the surf and onto the sand to say our final goodbyes, an aura I recognized lit her up and a symbol above her head that I'd never seen, but recognized just as well.

The aura around Luna was black, making her seem like a dark angel. She froze when I did, confused as to why I was. She followed my gaze to above her head that made her seize in terror.

Above Luna's head was a holographic Helm of Darkness. Hades had just claimed her as a Daughter Hades.

"What does that mean?" Luna asked, terrified.

"You're my sister." I whispered.


End file.
